View posts for » February, 2008

I recently enjoyed an excellent, leisurely lunch with family and loved ones at a Turkish restaurant. When the coffee (hot, strong and Turkish, of course) arrived after our meal, we were pleased to find small cubes of Turkish Delight perched on each of our saucers. Also known as lokum, it is a traditional, jelly-like Middle Eastern confection that has been around for centuries.

We found that each morsel was small but satisfying…lightly sweet and delicately flavored with rosewater, just one piece was enough for each of us. Despite being fat-free and small in size, it still seemed indulgent. It was a pleasant ending to an already perfect meal.

While it is easy enough to buy Turkish Delight in the shops, it is also fairly easy to make at home. There are numerous recipes for Turkish Delight out there, with all kinds of variations on ingredients and flavors…some with orange peel, some with lemon peel, some with rosewater or mint or nuts. This recipe is pretty easy and close to what we enjoyed that lazy afternoon:

Turkish Delight (Lokum)

(Note: This needs to set overnight before cutting and serving, so please plan accordingly.)

Ingredients:

• 4 cups granulated sugar
• 4 1/2 cups water (divided into 1 1/2 cup and 3 cup quantities)
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 1/2 tablespoon rosewater (available from Middle Eastern markets)
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 cup cornstarch
• Red food coloring

Coating:

• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch

Equipment:

• 2 large, heavy saucepans
• Candy thermometer
• 9″x9″ square baking dish
• Wax paper or plastic wrap
• Vegetable oil

Optional Equipment:

A strong and patient friend to take turns stirring the pot because your arm will probably get tired!

Directions:

Combine sugar, 1 1/2 cups of water, and lemon juice and heat in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and mixture reaches a boil, then reduce heat and simmer without stirring until mixture reaches 240ºF (”soft ball” stage) on the candy thermometer. Remove from heat.

In the other saucepan over medium heat, stir 1 cup of cornstarch and 1 teaspoon cream of tartar together while gradually adding 3 cups of water. Stir mixture to remove lumps, until it has reached a boil and is the consistency of paste

Gradually add the sugar/water/lemon juice syrup to the cornstarch mixture, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and simmer, frequently stirring to prevent sticking. Continue to stir for about an hour (this is where having a friend to take turns comes in handy), then stir in the rosewater and a tiny drop of red food coloring if you want to add a nice rose or red tint.

Oil the inside of the 9″x9″ baking dish with the vegetable oil and line with the wax paper or plastic wrap. Oil the wax paper/plastic wrap as well.

Pour the mixture into the oiled and lined baking dish and spread evenly. (Note: this probably goes without saying, but the mixture will be VERY hot, so be careful while pouring and try not to forget and casually wipe stray drips away with your finger…you WILL get burned!) Allow to cool overnight.

The next day, tip the hardened mixture out of the pan onto a cutting board. If your wax paper is fused to the mixture and is difficult to remove, gently dampen the surface of the paper with warm water and let it sit for a minute…it should peel away easily after that. Cut into one inch cubes with an oiled knife. I thought it would be fun and romantic to make heart shapes for Valentine’s Day, so I used a very small heart shaped cookie cutter instead.

Combine 1 cup confectioners sugar and 1/4 cup cornstarch and sift into a bowl. Roll the cut pieces in the mixture to coat. (Don’t be afraid to coat generously, because the candy will absorb some of it.) Store in an airtight container, separating each layer of Turkish Delight with wax paper.

This pairs wonderfully with a cup of mint or cardamom tea. Enjoy!

When it comes to the classic Provençal vegetable dish ratatouille, I prefer it roasted not stirred. What I mean is I’d rather eat ratatouille that’s been cooked in the oven where the vegetables are left alone to slowly roast in their own juices, than ratatouille that’s been made on the stove-top where the vegetables are often overcooked and stirred to a mush.

Until quite recently I’d only ever made ratatouille on the stove-top. The results had always been very palatable, but not what I would describe as overwhelmingly good. I’d always put this down to the fact that I wasn’t cooking each vegetable separately, a method that some recipes recommend to preserve the integrity of each vegetable. But I’d never had the time or inclination to test that theory.

Being a big fan of oven-roasted dishes, and armed with a glut of eggplants, tomatoes, zucchinis, peppers and onions, I was inspired to create this roasted ratatouille. Unhampered by excessive stirring, the vegetables develop a deliciously sweet roasted flavor and wonderful texture that rise above any stove-top ratatouille I’ve ever tasted.

Since this roasted ratatouille revelation, it’s become one of my favorite ’set and forget’ oven-baked dishes and has revolutionized my culinary repertoire with its sheer versatility. Just as good hot, warm or cold, the ratatouille can be prepared ahead and kept covered in the fridge until you’re ready to roast. And once cooked, any leftovers (unlikely) taste even better over the next day or two.

To date I’ve served roasted ratatouille: tossed with pasta and white beans; nestled in a baguette with brie (heaven!); served on the side of grilled tuna; mixed with couscous and chickpeas; used as a pizza topping with anchovies and olives; and stirred through a shrimp risotto.

I’m sure there are dozens of other ways you could use this ratatouille, and if you can think of any I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments.

Bon appétit!

Roasted Ratatouille

Serves 4 as a side dish

• 14 oz (420g) canned tomatoes — chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon caster sugar
• 2 cloves garlic — minced
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 red onion — thinly sliced and separated into rings
• 2 red peppers — cut into strips
• 1 green pepper — cut into strips
• 2 zucchini (courgette) — cut into half-inch rounds
• 1/2 eggplant (aubergine) — cut into 1-inch cubes

PREHEAT oven to 350F/180C. MIX together the canned tomatoes, garlic, salt, pepper, sugar, parsley and thyme until combined. OIL a baking dish with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. START by layering a quarter of the sliced onion in the bottom of the baking dish then top with a quarter each of red and green peppers, zucchini and eggplant. SPOON a quarter of the tomato mixture and 1 tablespoon of olive oil over each layer. REPEAT the process to make 4 layers. COVER and bake for 1 hour, then uncover and bake for a further 15 minutes.

Rice is one of my favorite foods. True, no kidding! It is simple to cook, it can be cooked in a variety of ways and despite its rather plain taste, has a nice texture and goes well with pretty much all kinds of food.

I must confess I don’t know the origin of this recipe, when I was a kid my grandmother used to cook it very often and I learned from her. This Soufflé is very light in calories, delicious and can be served as a side dish (or “contorno”, as they call it here in Italy), or can be topped with all kinds of sauces or garnished with roasted vegetables. You name it.

The Soufflé

Ingredients

• 1 onion
• About 50ml of olive oil
• 2 cups of uncooked rice
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup of flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Two eggs
• Salt
• Bread crumbs

Directions

Cook the rice in salty water and then let it reach room temperature before you proceed. You can also use leftover rice, if you have it already.

Chop the onion very finely with the food processor. Put the olive oil to heat in pan on a low flame and lightly fry the minced garlic and the onion. Whey they start to become golden in color turn off the flame and add the rice. Mix it well and add the eggs and mix again adding the flour.

Grease an oven tray with a thin layer of oil and cover it with a thin layer of bread crumbs. Add the Soufflé mix and cover with a thin layer of bread crumbs.

Cook in a pre-heated oven at about 180°C (356°F) until it’s golden in color.

The sauce

You are free to use any sauce you like but in my opinion a red sauce would probably go better than a Bechamel. You can also have it plain, with no sauce at all, which I love.

This time, I wanted to do a vegetarian Bolognese sauce. This is the recipe for the one in the picture.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups of TSP/TVP (Textured Soy Protein)
• Soy Sauce
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Water
• Plain tomato sauce

Directions

I usually like to add vinegar and and soy sauce instead of using plain water to rehydrate TSP. Put the TSP in a small pan with a little vinegar, soy sauce and some drops of water and put it on a low flame for about a minute. Add water as needed so the TSP rehydrates but doesn’t soak.

After the TSP is ready, add the tomato sauce and keep mixing on low flame until hot. Serve on top of individual servings.

Now, a confession. I always make more than I’m going to eat because I have a craving for eating this Soufflé plain and at room temperature hours later. A must try!

Do you think that pasta is a disaster for blood sugar levels? As soon as pasta touches your lips, do you think it goes to your hips? Do you think that white pasta is virtually devoid of nutrients?

If you answered yes to any or all of the above questions, you might be surprised to learn that these are all common myths.

Do you want to know what the real deal is with pasta? Then you might want to check out an article I wrote recently for the food website, Culinate. It’s called The Pasta Myth, and I not only debunk some common pasta myths, I also show you how pasta can be a healthy (and very tasty!) addition to a balanced diet.

Here’s the beginning of the article:

In September, the unthinkable happened: Italy had its first-ever national pasta strike.

Throughout Italy, thousands of sullen-faced Italians protested the rising price of their national dish by refusing to purchase pasta that day. But even the organizers of the strike realized that Italians could never go a day without actually eating pasta, so they gave it out for free.

But while pasta has the power to evoke such a passionate response in Italy, in North America there’s an ongoing battle for the hearts and minds of pasta lovers.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Welcome to MediterrAsian Cooking! If you love Mediterranean and Asian food (including Italian, Greek, Spanish, Provençal, Turkish, Moroccan, Lebanese, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, Korean, Indonesian and Malaysian) you’ve come to the right place.This blog is run by four dedicated home cooks, and we’re all seriously passionate about Mediterranean and Asian food — not just because it tastes so good, but also because it’s so good for our bodies in a physical sense as well.

Our aim is to demystify and simplify traditional Mediterranean and Asian cooking. And we’ll be covering anything and everything to do with Mediterranean and Asian food including recipes, cooking techniques, info about individual ingredients, helpful equipment, time saving tips, and stuff like that.

Hopefully we’ll inspire you to try dishes and ingredients you might not have tried before.

If you’re new to Mediterranean and Asian cooking, or maybe just a bit rusty — check out the MediterrAsian website. The site shows you how to stock your pantry with authentic Mediterranean and Asian ingredients, and it includes over 100 recipes, lots of illustrated step-by-steps, and some of the history behind traditional Mediterranean and Asian cooking.

There’s also the MediterrAsian Cooking Flickr group. You can join up and share your photos of home-cooked Mediterranean and Asian meals, or you can just browse through the mouthwatering food photos; there’s nearly 500 of them so far, and many include the full recipe so you can try them out yourself.

Well, that should give you a fairly good idea of what this blog is about, and if you want to find out more about the people behind this whole project click here.

Cheers!
Ric, Trudy, Guilherme and Emily

I started the New Year with an evil flu that drained me of energy, appetite and enthusiasm for pretty much everything, including food. Unable to stomach much of anything, I was uninspired until I remembered the ultimate Asian comfort food…rice congee.

Also known as rice gruel, jook, mueh, or xifan, it is all basically the same watery rice porridge, served plain with various meats and pickles on the side or with different flavors, condiments and ingredients mixed in. Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Korean, and Russian cuisines all have their own versions. In my own Taiwanese American family, it was (and is) a common breakfast food or light meal.

Congee is so simple to make that it was one of the first foods my mom allowed me to cook on my own as a child. It is a dish almost impossible to mess up.

Method 1: Add cooked rice to a larger amount of water or broth, and simmer until the liquid is reduced and the rice is soft and the consistency of oatmeal. This is a great way to use up leftover rice, and was my mother’s usual method when I was growing up because in our household, we almost always had leftover rice.

Method 2: If you don’t have any cooked rice handy, start with uncooked rice and an even larger quantity of liquid such as 6-8 cups of water or broth to 1 cup of rice, You can vary this ratio according to your own preference and what works for you…when I consulted a friend who also comes from a Taiwanese family, she unhesitatingly recited her mother’s formula: “10 to 1!”

A third method is to simply use your electric rice cooker…a lot of rice cookers these days have a congee/porridge setting built right in!

Inspired by the “cháo” I like to order from a local Vietnamese restaurant, I decided to make a gingery chicken congee to battle my cold. It truly was the perfect food to heal both mind and body.

Easy Ginger Chicken Rice Porridge (6-8 servings)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked rice
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1-2 tablespoons minced ginger root (adjust to taste)
• 1 cup shredded, cooked chicken (I poached mine)
• Chopped scallions or other herbs for garnish

Directions:

Add cooked rice to 4 cups of chicken broth, along with the minced ginger root. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the liquid is reduced and the rice is soft and about the consistency of oatmeal. (There should still be some liquid covering the rice, but just a little.) Mix in the cooked, shredded chicken and chopped scallions and serve hot.

Basic Rice Porridge (6 servings)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup uncooked short grain white rice
• 6-8 cups water or broth (though my friend insists on 10 cups)

Directions:

Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Drain water. Add the six cups of water to the rice, bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Serve hot.

(Option: Add uncooked pieces of sweet potato during the cooking process to make sweet potato rice)

Enjoy, and stay healthy!